Calcium Chloride

Watch your step out there. You and your neighbors may have an unwanted skating rink on your front porches this week, and there may be more ice on sidewalks and driveways than usual. That's because many stores haven't been able to keep deicing agents such as calcium chloride and rock salt in stock this winter. In fact, calcium chloride hasn't been available in many locations since the last big storm on Jan. 21, and other store managers said they have been out of the stuff since December.

The pedestrian walkway that collapsed at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., was built with material contaminated with calcium chloride, which corroded the steel beams, investigators said yesterday. The testing lab hired by the speedway to investigate Saturday's collapse found high levels of calcium chloride in the concrete slabs on the 320-footlong bridge, said Charles Manning, of Accident Reconstruction Analysts in Raleigh. Saturday night, an 80-foot section collapsed, spilling fans leaving the raceway onto U.S. 29 about 17 feet below.

While workers battled to clear Gloucester County's main roadways last night, the Board of Chosen Freeholders authorized $50,000 in emergency funds to deal with the ice and snow. The action was necessary because the county was unable to "anticipate one of our costliest winters," according to Freeholder Joseph L. Manganello, deputy director. The allocation increased the county highway department's budget for road maintenance from $1,248,546 to $1,298,546. "I understand we may even have to do some more juggling (with funds)

The weather is enough to discourage anyone. It's too hot to work comfortably. We haven't had a good soaking rain in what seems like forever. The rains either spit or run off or fall in some other state. You really need to make sure that your perennials (herbs, flowers, rhubarb and asparagus) get enough water to keep them growing well, or they won't be around next year. Enough water in this weather probably means a gallon or two every week - depending on the size of the plant - put down around the base of the plant.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said yesterday that it would test liquid deicing agents on roads this winter in Bucks, Dauphin and Washington Counties. "We will be treating certain highways and bridges with an anti-icing material that will prevent ice from forming a strong bond with the roadway," PennDot Secretary Bradley L. Mallory said. The materials are liquid forms of calcium chloride, sodium chloride and magnesium chloride. They would be sprayed onto a highway immediately before a storm's arrival.

At least the city realized its error, and is correcting it with some help from a neighbor. Those who take care of Veterans Stadium applied calcium chloride to the turf to prevent icing in the Eagles' regular-season finale Sunday against the Bengals. The result: poor footing all around and, apparently, some slickness on the football. As soon as the city learned that the Eagles would host a playoff game, it called Golden Glo, an industrial cleaner, to steam clean the carpet for Sunday's playoff game against the visiting Buccaneers.

It's another case in which the Veterans Stadium turf is more feared than the opponent. While preparing for their first home playoff game in five years - a game signifying the team's return to competitiveness - the Eagles were tangled in a debate yesterday with stadium officials over why the turf was slick and grimy for Sunday's regular-season finale. More important, the Eagles fear the problem could extend into this Sunday's NFC wild-card game against Tampa Bay. They also wonder whether, with forecasts of rain and snow this week, the Vet - especially the turf - will be in top condition for the game.

Some people think ice looks pretty. Others have to drive on it. So when the temperatures drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit - the freezing point of water - highway engineers turn to chemistry to try to melt it. The idea is to spread a substance on the road that will lower the temperature at which water freezes. Until now, the substance of choice has been salt - sodium chloride, the stuff in salt shakers. But highway crews have found that below 20 degrees F. or so, common salt just doesn't work.

The dreaded snow and sleet storm that sent residents rushing out to buy shovels, salt and groceries, petered out in rain and warmer temperatures last night. Except in the colder suburbs north of the city, roadway conditions this morning were expected to be sloppy but passable. The rain and above-freezing temperatures were expected to wash away the ice, and a warmer trend the rest of the week should lead snow-weary residents to start thinking about spring. Yesterday began with snow, wet and heavy, which turned to freezing rain, coating the streets with a dangerous and treacherous mixture before rain took over.

CITY COUNCILMAN Jim Kenney is trying to avoid rubbing salt in the wounds of those who put their feet to the pavement on snowy days - and that includes friends of the four-legged variety. Kenney introduced a resolution yesterday that asks the streets and services committee to hold public hearings to investigate the use of rock salt - which the city has used since the 1940s - to melt ice and snow in the wintertime. "What I've seen in the city this snow season is just the dumping of salt all over the place, regardless of how much we really need to break down the snow," he said.

CITY COUNCILMAN Jim Kenney is trying to avoid rubbing salt in the wounds of those who put their feet to the pavement on snowy days - and that includes friends of the four-legged variety. Kenney introduced a resolution yesterday that asks the streets and services committee to hold public hearings to investigate the use of rock salt - which the city has used since the 1940s - to melt ice and snow in the wintertime. "What I've seen in the city this snow season is just the dumping of salt all over the place, regardless of how much we really need to break down the snow," he said.

Watch your step out there. You and your neighbors may have an unwanted skating rink on your front porches this week, and there may be more ice on sidewalks and driveways than usual. That's because many stores haven't been able to keep deicing agents such as calcium chloride and rock salt in stock this winter. In fact, calcium chloride hasn't been available in many locations since the last big storm on Jan. 21, and other store managers said they have been out of the stuff since December.

Advance planning and early action are key in keeping roads open in ice and snow or in rerouting traffic from closed highways, according to officials in cold-weather states. Highway officials there said they sympathized with the road crews that had to deal with last week's winter nightmare on northeastern Pennsylvania interstates, including I-78, where hundreds of motorists were stranded, some for more than a day. But they said they had never heard of such a lengthy jam on their own highways.

At least the city realized its error, and is correcting it with some help from a neighbor. Those who take care of Veterans Stadium applied calcium chloride to the turf to prevent icing in the Eagles' regular-season finale Sunday against the Bengals. The result: poor footing all around and, apparently, some slickness on the football. As soon as the city learned that the Eagles would host a playoff game, it called Golden Glo, an industrial cleaner, to steam clean the carpet for Sunday's playoff game against the visiting Buccaneers.

It's another case in which the Veterans Stadium turf is more feared than the opponent. While preparing for their first home playoff game in five years - a game signifying the team's return to competitiveness - the Eagles were tangled in a debate yesterday with stadium officials over why the turf was slick and grimy for Sunday's regular-season finale. More important, the Eagles fear the problem could extend into this Sunday's NFC wild-card game against Tampa Bay. They also wonder whether, with forecasts of rain and snow this week, the Vet - especially the turf - will be in top condition for the game.

The pedestrian walkway that collapsed at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., was built with material contaminated with calcium chloride, which corroded the steel beams, investigators said yesterday. The testing lab hired by the speedway to investigate Saturday's collapse found high levels of calcium chloride in the concrete slabs on the 320-footlong bridge, said Charles Manning, of Accident Reconstruction Analysts in Raleigh. Saturday night, an 80-foot section collapsed, spilling fans leaving the raceway onto U.S. 29 about 17 feet below.

The dreaded snow and sleet storm that sent residents rushing out to buy shovels, salt and groceries, petered out in rain and warmer temperatures last night. Except in the colder suburbs north of the city, roadway conditions this morning were expected to be sloppy but passable. The rain and above-freezing temperatures were expected to wash away the ice, and a warmer trend the rest of the week should lead snow-weary residents to start thinking about spring. Yesterday began with snow, wet and heavy, which turned to freezing rain, coating the streets with a dangerous and treacherous mixture before rain took over.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said yesterday that it would test liquid deicing agents on roads this winter in Bucks, Dauphin and Washington Counties. "We will be treating certain highways and bridges with an anti-icing material that will prevent ice from forming a strong bond with the roadway," PennDot Secretary Bradley L. Mallory said. The materials are liquid forms of calcium chloride, sodium chloride and magnesium chloride. They would be sprayed onto a highway immediately before a storm's arrival.

If you prefer spending the weekend watching football till your eyes pop out, read no further. But if you'd rather spend Super Bowl Sunday in front of the television instead of breaking ice dams on your roof or bailing out your basement, it's time to get your house ready to survive winter. There's always a chance of a mild one, just like the winter the weather folks predicted last year. But how about those record snowfalls that began a month before Christmas and lasted past Easter - or have you blocked them out?

Some people think ice looks pretty. Others have to drive on it. So when the temperatures drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit - the freezing point of water - highway engineers turn to chemistry to try to melt it. The idea is to spread a substance on the road that will lower the temperature at which water freezes. Until now, the substance of choice has been salt - sodium chloride, the stuff in salt shakers. But highway crews have found that below 20 degrees F. or so, common salt just doesn't work.